Conveying mechanism



April 3, 1945. H. A. BARNBY ET AL.l 2,372,646

CONVEYING MECHANI SM Filed Dec. 7, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l Q VY( N l O l Ol o 3 \9 o 05 00.3 m o u) l: i A u .H O K) qu E l l' 9 n 2e S;

um@ Rf v u 'Lij 1. n 100;. mm L, al o v N.; w) Q wg i v 4 Wc/'Htor/ o EO l 5 \mmm Q l RL Herevrlarny Sk; g ./,mw f/,QM

w W i April 3, 1945. H. A. BARNBY ET AL 2,372,646

CONVEYING MECHANI SM Filed Deo. 7, 1942 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2lglillullllllllllllulw| 1 Jai: n Halal Patented Apr. 3, 1945 UNITEDSTATES PATENT oFFiciz CONVEYING MECHANISM Herbert A. Barnby and JohnHohl,` Toledo, Ohio, asslgnors to Owens-Illinois Glass Company, a

corporation of Ohio Application cembei- 1, 1942, serial No. 468,096 4claims. (ci. iss-165) Our invention relates to apparatus for coin-Vveying articles such as bottles, jars, or other. containers to andthrough an assembling station where caps or closure devices are placedon the containers, sealing the closure devices on lthe containers andadvancing them beyond the sealing station.

An object of the invention is to provide in combination with thecontinuously traveling conveyor a. sealing ram or device for pressingthe caps into sealing engagement with the containers and means forquickly starting the sealed containers forward with the conveyor afterthe sealing operation, during which their forward travel has beenarrested momentarily;

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter. i

Referring to the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is-a, part-sectional plan view of an apparatus embodying ourinvention. f

Fig. 2 is a, longitudinal sectional elevation of the apparatus.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the gripping rolls for grippingthe container while a cap is being drawn thereby from a chute o holdingdevice onto the container.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional elevation of the apparatus. y

The apparatus as herein disclosed forms part of a jar capping andsealing-machine such as illustrated and described in the copendingapplication of John Hohl for "Capping machines, Serial No. 468,095,filed December 7, 1942, and issued September 12, 1944, as Patent N0.2,357,826, and the copending joint application of Hohl and Bjering forJar capping apparatus," Serial Number 468,094, filed December 7, 1942.'I'he present application discloses subject matter described and claimedin saidcopending applications.

Referring to the drawings, the apparatus includes a horizontallydisposed, continuously traveling belt conveyor comprising a pair ofbeltsv supported on a .conveyor frame including side rails and a bottomsupporting plate or rail l2 frmed with a central longitudinal rib I3.The containers C, herein shown and referred to as jars, are placed onthev conveyor at one end of the machine and continuously ad- "vancedthrough the machine except while momentarily arrested by the sealing ramas herein- .after described.

containers C. Each container as it advances,

engages a cap and withdraws it from the arms I6 leaving'the cap looselysupported on the container. A stationaryplate or shoe Il (Fig. 2)positioned forwardly of the chute, is arranged to engage the cap andhold it with a, yielding pressure in place on the container as the\latter advances beyond the chute. i

The cap is forced into sealing position on the container by a ram IBwhich is periodically reciprocated vertically by means of a cam actuatedoperating lever |9. The container is momentarily arrested by theplunger, the stationary rib I3 providing a bottom support for-thecontainer while the cap is pressed into sealing engagement with thecontainer.

Means for gripping the container when it reaches the cap transferposition and assuring its continued forward movement by which the cap iswithdrawn from the holding arms I6, includes a pair of gripping rollsarranged to to engage the opposite side walls of the container.`

The rolls are mounted on stationary frames 2| which comprise parallelrails extending lengthwise of the apparatus. These rails are positionedat opposite sides of the conveyor frame Il, |2 and at a somewhat level.

Each of the rolls 20 comprises a hub 22iormed with peripheral anges 23which provide supporting plates for a pair of disks 24 made of rubber orother soft resilient material. The disks are gripped between the plates23 and upper and lower clamped plates 25 and 26 attached to the hub byscrews 21. Each hub 2'2 is attached to the upper end of a vertical shaft28 by means of a screw bolt 29. The shafts 28l are journalled forrotation in the frames 2|. Sprocket wheels 30 are attached to the lowerends of the shafts by screw bolts 3| which are threaded into iianges 32formed on the shafts.

The rolls 20 are rotated continuously in synchronism-with the movementof the conveyor belts I0. Said belts and the rolls 20 may be' drivenfrom the same motor operating through power transmitting mechanism. Suchmechanism includes a gear 33 (Fig. 4) and a sprocket wheel 35. Asprocket chain 36 is trained over the sprocket wheel 35 and a sprocketwheel 31 keyed to a shaft 38. i

Bevel gears 33 splined on the shaft 38 have journalled bearings in apair of brackets 40. Bevel gears 4| in mesh with and driven by the gears39, are keyed to the upperl ends of vertical shafts 42 journalled in thebrackets 43. Sprocket wheels 43 keyed to the lower ends of the shafts42, drive sprocket chains 44 which are trained over the sprocket wheels43 and the sprocket wheels 30 (Fig. 3).

A pair of endless side belts 45 are mounted on 60 the frames 2| atoppositev sides of the path of the 2 aeraccc containers. Each belt it istrained over a drive pulley 45 keyed to one of the shafts d2, and adriven pulley di' on a stationary shaft de. The shaft it is carried onan adjusting block le slidably mounted in the frame 2i. A tension andtake-up spring e@ is mounted on a headed rod l attached to the blockl itand slidable in an end block 5E of the frame 2i. The spring is undertension and maintains a tension on the belt d5.

The side belts l5 arearranged to engage the sides of the containers Cafter the latter have passed beyond the gripping rollsZii, and serve asa means for quickly starting and accelerating the containers after theyhave been arrested rncmentarily at the sealingstation. Means for holdingthe side belts with a yielding pressure against each of the containersin succession, includes a series of pressure rolls 53 associated witheach belt; Each of the rolls 53 is joui-nailed on a bell crank 5dmounted to rock on a pivot pin 55 attached to rthe frame 2l. Each frame2l carries a rod 56 extending lengthwise thereof and having a threadedend portion 5l connected to the end block 52 for lengthwise adjustmentof the rod. Each bell crank 5t includes an arm 58. The rod 56 extendsthrough openings in the arms 58 and has mounted thereon coil springs 5eheld under compression between said arms bil and collars Sil keyed tothe rod. The springs ed serve to hold the belts l5 with a yieldingpressure against the containers C. The degree of pressure is adjustablyregulated by the adjusting rods te.

By the use of a plurality of pressure rolls d3 arranged at intervalslengthwise of each belt, a substantially uniform yielding pressure maybe applied to the containers during their travel through a predeterminedzone. These pressure rolls are so positioned and arranged that the beltsd5 are brought into engagement with the containers after the latter haspassed beyond the holding rolls 2d and by the time the containers havereached the sealing zone where they are arrested by the sealing plungeror ram I8. As the latter is lifted after a sealing operation, thecontainer immediately resumes its forward movement owing to thefrictional driving engagement of the side belts therewith under thepressure applied by the spring 59. As the side belts are traveling atthe same linear speed as the bottom conveyor belts l0, each container isaccelerated to the speed of the bottom conveyor and transi erred to itscontrol.

Modifications may be resorted to Within the spirit and scope of ourinvention.

We claim:

1. The'combination of a horizontally traveling conveyor forming a bottomsupport for containers placed thereon and operable to advance thecontainers along a predetermined path, horizontally traveling conveyorbelts spaced above the said conveyor and extending lengthwise thereof,said belts being spaced to permit the passage therebetween of containerssupported on and traveling with said conveyor, means for driv.- ing saidbelts in synchronism with the travel of the conveyor, and pressure meansfor holding the belts with a yielding pressure against opposite sides ofcontainers traveling with said conveyor, said pressure means comprisinga series of bell cranks, springs individual to the bell cranks and eachengaging and applying pressure to one arm of a bell crank, rollsindividual to the bell cranks and each carried by the other arm of thebell crank, said rolls engaging the side belts and holding the latteragainst the containers on said conveyor, a rod on which said springs aremounted, stops on said rod in position to engage said springs and. holdthem under compression against the bell cranks, and means for adjustingthe rod and thereby adjusting the compression of the springs.

2. The combination of a horizontally traveling conveyor, an endless beltspaced above the con- `veyor and extending lengthwise thereof, a frameextending lengthwise of the belt, bell cranks mounted on said frame,rolls carried by the bell cranks and arranged to bear against said belt,a rod extending lengthwise of said frame, coil springs mounted on saidrod, and stops on the rod, each spring being held under compressionbetween a stop and one arm of the bell crank, the bell cranks beingarranged to transmit said pressure through the rolls to said belts.

3. The combination of a continuously traveling horizontal conveyor foradvancing containers supported thereon to and beyond a predeter minedstopping point, driving means cooperating with said conveyor forstarting containers arrested at said point and accelerating thecontainers to the speed of said conveyor, said driving means comprisingside belts positioned above the conveyor and extending lengthwisethereof and spaced apart in position to engage the op posite sides ofthe containers while the latter are at said stopping point, means fordriving said belts in the same general direction and at substantiallythe same speed as said conveyor, said belts being extended beyond saidpoint in bothy directions lengthwise of the conveyor, the portionsthereof approaching the said point being slightly convergent in aforward direction to bring them into gripping contact with thecontainers at said point, the belts being substantially parallel fromsaid point forward to retain said gripping contact while the containeris advancing beyond said point.

4. The combination of a continuously traveling horizontal conveyor foradvancing containers supported thereon to and beyond a predeterminedstopping point, driving means cooperating with said conveyor forstarting containers arrested at said point and accelerating thecontainers to the speed of said conveyor, said driving means comprisingside belts positioned above the conveyor and extending lengthwisethereof and spaced apart in position to engage the opposite sides of thecontainers while the latter are at said stopping point, means fordriving said belts in the same general direction and at substantiallythe same speed as said conveyor, said belts being extended beyond saidpoint in both directions .lengthwise of the conveyor, the portionsthereof approaching the said point being slightly convergent in aforward direction to bring them into gripping contact with thecontainers at said point, the belts being substantially parallel fromsaid point forward to retain said gripping contact while the containeris advancing beyond said point, pressure rolls positioned at intervalsalong said parallel portions of the said belts, and means for holdingeach said roll with a yielding pressure against the belt and applyingsaid pressure through the belts to the containers.

HERBERT A. BARNBY. JOHN Horn..

